Green makes it long night for Santa Margarita defense

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA - The Pac-5 Division second-round playoff meeting between Santa Margarita and top-seeded St. Bonaventure of Ventura on Friday night lived up to its pregame expectations.

Meeting for the second time this season, St. Bonaventure was able to use a heavy dose of its running game to jump out to an early lead and defeat Santa Margarita, 27-21, in an overtime thriller at Trabuco Hills High.

The inability to stop the run throughout the game was a key in the Eagles’ loss.

Seraphs running back Zach Green, an Arizona commit, was a huge part of St. Bonaventure's success against the Eagles defense.

Green rushed for 184 yards and four touchdowns on 30 carries, including the go-ahead score in overtime that proved to be the winner.

Green topped his 103-yard effort in the Seraphs’ loss to Santa Margarita Sept. 21 with an even stronger outing this time around.

He had scoring runs of 17, 4 and 5 yards and punched in a 1-yard score on St. Bonaventure’s only overtime possession.

“They’re a terrific team. You saw. I mean, their running back, Zach Green, he’s a heck of a runner,” said Eagles senior Conner O’Brien, who had a solid game, including two vicious hits on St. Bonaventure players late in the fourth quarter.

“I think our defense did a great job, they (St. Bonaventure) just executed more.”

The Eagles' defense was terrific defending the pass, holding St. Bonaventure quarterback Ricky Town to 63 passing yards and holding him to eight completions on 18 attempts.

But the Seraphs’ rushing attack repeatedly hurt the Eagles. Their defense was unable to execute and stop Green when they needed to most.

“I don’t think we did anything differently (from the first game between the two). We just played our game, but it wasn’t enough,” Eagles senior Gian Carlo Spinosi said. “They really didn’t change anything and we didn’t change our defense at all. It was the same thing, same battle. It’s hard not coming out with the win, but I know we gave it our all.

“It’s been a great season, going through a bunch of adversity, so it’s crazy what we’ve achieved.”